ALLENDALE -- For the first time over the last 33 Michigan winters, referee Joe Perrin is not dashing up and down hardcourt. The 52-year-old is not blowing a whistle, calling a foul or travel, or having a coach verbally chew on his ear.

For the first time in 33 seasons, Perrin isn't a basketball official. His beaten-up knees have put a sudden, and somewhat emotional, halt to his refereeing career. On Wednesday, he had athroscopic surgery on both knees.

"I figure I've done over 900 football games and 1,200 basketball games, and this is the first year I've ever had to miss games due to injury," Perrin said.

"I've missed games to watch my daughters play sports or because of my work schedule, but it's the first time in over 2,100 contests I've missed a game due to an injury. It's real hard."

Perrin, a 1974 graduate of Hudsonville High School, was a four-year baseball, basketball and football athlete before attending Grand Rapids Community College for one year.

Perrin then went on to Aquinas College, where he played centerfield for NAIA Hall of Fame coach and current athletic director Terry Bocian before receiving his diploma in 1978.

"When I was going to GRCC, Tom Hofmann taught an officiating class," Perrin said of the former Big Ten Conference official and current replay official.

"I was 19, and I figured being a ref would be a great way to make some spending money. So after the class, I started officiating rec leagues, Rocket football games, freshmen and junior varsity games and right up the ladder.

"This current school year was my 33rd as an official -- 26 in college ball and 33 in high school. I guess all the wear and tear on my knees from playing sports in high school and college and refereeing finally took a toll."

Perrin serves as one of the senior women's officials of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic and the NAIA Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic conferences, and also works high school football games.

He began to feel the affects of all those trips up and down gridirons and hardcourts last fall.

"I knew I had some issues with the knees before football season, so I kept icing them and trying other treatments like the doctor said. But nothing was working," Perrin said. "I made it through the third week of the playoffs, and then we found out my knees were worse than we originally thought."

Before last week's surgery, Perrin suffered from a torn meniscus in both knees. The right knee also had cartilage damage, and the left had bone spurs that needed to be grinded down.

"I've been active in athletics all my life, and I've never had surgery before," said Perrin, a manufacturing general supervisor at Delphi who credits his employer for allowing him to schedule his officiating around work demands and vacation time.

"If it wasn't for Delphi and GM, I would not have been able to work nearly as many games as I have over the last three-plus decades," Perrin added.

Nor would he be able to continue his officiating career, which he plans to continue once he completes rehabilitation.

"The doctor told me the bad news was that my basketball season was over, but that the good news is both knees were very repairable and there was no reason why I can't officiate another eight to 10 years, starting next season," Perrin said. "I was a little afraid my career was over.

"It's real hard not officiating this winter. But what I've found out is that I'm not ready to give up officiating. It's a passion. It's something I love to do, and have to do."